South Africans emerge as sprint powers

The Commonwealth's new sprint king says now South Africans believe they can run fast, conquering the world is their next step.

Akani Simbine stunned the Gold Coast Games when he and countryman Henricho Bruintjie took the gold and silver double in the 100m on Monday night, leaving Jamaican gun Yohan Blake in third.

Clarence Munyai and Anaso Jobodwana are every chance to repeat the dose in the 200m and only the injury-enforced absence of their compatriot, Olympic 400m champion Wayde van Neikerk, would curtail a potential South African sweep of the sprints.

Munyai's national record of 19.69 seconds set in Pretoria last month is the fastest 200m in the world since 2015, while Jobodwana dominated his heat at Carrara Stadium on Tuesday morning.

"Slowly but surely the sprinters have been coming up and in the last four years we've had Anaso, we've had Wayde, there's been me and Henricho or Clarence," Simbine said on Monday.

Munyai strolled to victory in his 200m heat in 20.95 with the race already sewn up as he came off the bend, while Jobodwana was even more impressive in 20.89 as they build toward Thursday's final.

While Munyai says he's motivated by the emergence of his country as a sprinting power, he also acknowledges the pressure.

"I am now feeling the pressure as there is talk among the team of a 100m and 200m double," he said.

"The team expects us to win. We are now motivated together."

Simbine is the first South African to win the Commonwealth 100m gold medal, while he and Bruintjie were the first into the final in 60 years, but he believes there's more to come.

"It's a belief in the younger kids, in the younger people, that we can be sprinters and world sprinters," he said.

"I've always said that South Africa is a sprinting nation, it's just about us believing in ourselves, going to competitions and running the times we need to run.

"For South Africa it's a really big deal because South Africa's been known as a middle-distance nation."

Even coming up against former world champion Blake, whose 9.69 is the second fastest 100m of all time, Simbine had the belief he could topple the Jamaican.

"I just literally told myself I need to get out in front of Yohan. If I could get out in front of Yohan and get to the 60 metres before him then I know I will win," he said.

His success has had a big impact back home, and it could be just the beginning.

"The guys at home have been going crazy. My phone has been going crazy, social media's been going crazy. My parents - they still can't believe it - my mum is smiling, like, next level smiling," he said.